An endoprosthesis may be configured to be positioned in a body lumen for a variety of medical applications. For example, an endoprosthesis may be used to treat a stenosis in a blood vessel, used to maintain a fluid opening or pathway in the vascular, urinary, biliary, tracheobronchial, esophageal or renal tracts, or to position a device such as an artificial valve or filter within a body lumen, in some instances. Bare or partially covered endoprostheses allow tissue ingrowth through the structure of the endoprosthesis to prevent migration of the endoprosthesis. However, if it is desired to remove the endoprosthesis at some later time, the ingrown tissue must be cut away, causing significant trauma to the body lumen. Fully covered stents, on the other hand, prevent tissue ingrowth to facilitate removal. However, fully covered endoprostheses are prone to migrate through the body lumen. Some patients require an endoprosthesis to be placed at a bend or bifurcation in the body lumen. However, some endoprostheses may be too stiff to maintain luminal patency around the bend or may not be long enough, requiring multiple endoprostheses (e.g., one stent placed before the bend and one stent placed after the bend, or overlapping stents at the bend).
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide endoprostheses that exhibit anti-migration features, while reducing the trauma to the body lumen of the patient if removal of the endoprosthesis is desired, and/or a flexible hinge feature for maintaining luminal patency around a bend in the body lumen.